


How To Fall In Love, A Guide For Idiots: Written By Catra And Adora

by whimsicalMedley



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Mutual Pining, Pining, Romance, Wingman Bow (She-Ra), background glimbow - Freeform, basically this is a retelling of how my partner and i got together, rip to my friend judas aka bow in this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:14:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26705806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whimsicalMedley/pseuds/whimsicalMedley
Summary: “She’s never going to love me and I’m going to pine for the rest of my life while she gets married and has cute kids and they’re going to call me ‘Auntie Adora’ or something and I’m going to diealone!”Adora wailed the last bit, and she was vaguely aware of Bow slamming his head into the wall.“I hate gay people.”Or, Adora pines, Catra is an idiot, and Bow suffers™.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 266





	How To Fall In Love, A Guide For Idiots: Written By Catra And Adora

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lesblep](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesblep/gifts).



> so............this is a true story like. minus the backstory of catra and adora, all of this ACTUALLY happened. i'm adora, my partner is catra, and my long suffering friend judas is bow. this was a WILD ride, but we got there!!!
> 
> to my love:  
> i've been in love with you for two years. here's to many more <3

“My life is an abyss of misery.”

Bow blinked at Adora, who had just thrown herself onto his bed.

“Hello to you too, Adora! I don’t remember inviting you over,” Bow replied sarcastically, but Adora wasn’t listening.

“She’s never going to love me and I’m going to pine for the rest of my life while she gets married and has cute kids and they’re going to call me ‘Auntie Adora’ or something and I’m going to die _alone!”_ Adora wailed the last bit, and she was vaguely aware of Bow slamming his head into the wall.

“I hate gay people.”

“Bow! I’m having a crisis!” Adora glared, and Bow rolled his eyes.

“A crisis with no basis,” he snarked, and Adora rolled her head to face him, glaring, “no, I’m right. How you can’t see that Catra is absolutely gone on you is _beyond_ me.”

“Because she isn’t!” Adora protested, and Bow sank onto the bed next to her.

“Why isn’t she?” He asked, and Adora rolled onto her stomach and screamed into the nearest pillow, “answer the question!”

“You’re making fun of me,” Adora pouted, and she could see Bow holding back laughter.

“Only a little. But seriously, answer the question. I’ll try to help.”

Adora sighed, rolling onto her back again and staring at the ceiling.

“Fine, I’ll tell you.”

* * *

**_3 Months Earlier…_ **

**_adorkra:_ ** _hey catra, you online?_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _one sec i’m playing portal_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _nerd_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _stfu princess_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _FINISH UR GAME I GOTTA TALK TO YOU_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _we literally hung out today why didn’t u say it then_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _this is easier over text_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _well that isn’t foreboding_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _NO IT ISN’T BAD  
_ **_adorkra:_ ** _at least i don’t think it is  
_ **_adorkra:_ ** _it depends tbh  
_ **_adorkra:_ ** _i hope it isn’t bad  
_ **_adorkra:_ ** _catra pls tell me your game is done i’m word vomiting_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _the fact you can word vomit through TEXT is hilarious_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _SHUT UUUUUUP_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _:)_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _are you done_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _yeah  
_ **_kittycatra:_ ** _so if ur ending our 12 years of friendship just tell me now_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _NO????????  
_ **_adorkra:_ ** _CATRA WTF I WOULD NEVER_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _sorry lol humor is my go to coping mechanism when i can’t be a bitch  
_ **_kittycatra:_ ** _anyways, what’s up?_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _i’m gonna be typing for a bit so pls wait until i say i’m done_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _okay?_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _thank you._

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _adora?_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _sorry i’m freaking out a bit  
_ **_adorkra:_ ** _give me a minute_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _okay  
_ **_kittycatra:_ ** _i’m right here_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _i know  
_ **_adorkra:_ ** _i wrote this out already bc i needed to figure out how to say it so.  
_ **_adorkra:_ ** _so i kinda realized i’m in love with you? romantically. and the only reason i'm telling you this is bc i know you won't freak out on me. i know you don't feel the same, and that's okay! i'm happy to be your best friend. this doesn't change anything. i figured you deserved to know because like i said, it was starting to eat at me and also i've apparently been extremely obvious considering i mentioned the whole thing to glimmer and bow and they just said "yeah, we were waiting for you to figure it out" when i didn't even realize what it was. idk if i'm gonna get over it. but you're my best friend first, and i don't want this to ruin that. also i s2g, don't feel bad for this. nobody can control emotions, especially if they're someone else's. i don't expect you to force yourself to love me like that, because that's unfair and also i wouldn't want that anyway. like i said, as long as you're in my life, that's more than enough. but also, i'm really sorry about this whole thing. i don't want you to feel uncomfortable.  
_ **_adorkra:_ ** _okay i need a minute im starting to panic, sorry_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _i’ve got time_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _i’m really sorry i just. gotta breathe real quick_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _don’t apologize loser  
_ **_kittycatra:_ ** _you’re good_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _okay i’m better, continue_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _how do you know for sure that what you feel for me is romantic?_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _god okay uh. i just realized whenever i picture my future partner and life, it's you. like, married with kids and some cats kind of stuff. i want to share like, everything with you which. yes that could be a best friends thing, but i can tell this isn't. i also want to kiss you? and stuff? gah i'm SO sorry if that's weird or upset you, this has just been stewing for awhile and i was starting to get upset_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _i'm not going to get upset at you, dork. you're my favourite person, even though i've never seen you in a romantic way. i’ll be completely honest, tbh i don't know how to tell romantic feelings from platonic so who knows, i may be turning the tables on you at some point. but right now, i don’t want to change our relationship. i'm not mad at you, and i don't know how to stay mad at you anyways. you can have some space from me if you want it, but i will always love you, unfortunately :P_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _oh i wouldn't want a relationship rn either. but thank you. as for space, if you want some i totally get it, but i'm fine with staying as is  
_ _**adorkra:** like i said, we're best friends first. i don't want that to change _

**_kittycatra:_ ** _i don’t need space. plus, believe it or not, but i’d miss you_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _you’re truly living up to your display name rn_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _stfu_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _anyways  
_ **_adorkra:_ ** _i’d miss you too  
_ **_adorkra:_ ** _and thank you  
_ **_adorkra:_ ** _and please don't feel bad, i went into this knowing what you'd say anyway, i just needed to get it off my chest because i was starting to get sad_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _don’t be sad i’ll fight u_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _wow thanks_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _ur welcome :)_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _but also if i ever make you uncomfortable at all please tell me_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _i will_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _thank you  
_ **_adorkra:_ ** _also, please don't like. change how you act around me ig? bc you're my best friend and this is my thing to deal with  
_ **_adorkra:_ ** _i get it if you feel awkward now, i just don't want it to stay awkward forever_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _i don't know enough about social graces to feel awkward  
_ **_kittycatra:_ ** _u know this adora smh_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _LMAO FAIR  
_ **_adorkra:_ ** _god. i wasn't sure if i should say anything because i have anxiety and i was really scared but bow told me to fhsbsbabsb  
_ **_adorkra:_ ** _DISCLAIMER i knew you wouldn't freak out on me i just didn't want to upset you_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _bow’s so good_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _wait never tell anyone i said that_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _he is and i’ll be sure to tell him :)_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _traitor :/_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _i need to like. take a nap now bc i had a very brief but big panic attack and im tired_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _please be good to yourself_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _im trying_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _i don’t want to go to the best friends store again_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _and here i thot u loved me smh  
_ **_adorkra:_ ** _i will text you later, ilysm_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _i love you too_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _awwww_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _don’t let it get to ur head_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _ARE YOU GONNA SAY BAKA NEXT???? FUCKIN TSUNDERE LOOKIN ASS_

 **_kittycatra:_ ** _SHUT UP I TAKE IT BACK YOU SUCK_

 **_adorkra:_ ** _LKKJSEFJEWFOJSE  
_ **_adorkra:_ ** _night catra <3 _

**_kittycatra:_ ** _ <3 _

* * *

Adora doesn’t remember how she and Catra met. She knew they were both about five or six years old, in a foster home, and that they hit it off immediately. The details are lost though, as are most of Adora’s memories before the age of fourteen.

 _And that’s on TRAUMA!_ Catra always laughed when it was brought up. If it were anyone else, Adore would be annoyed. Maybe she should be. But Catra has always been the exception to Adora’s rules.

So it’s definitely weird that Adora remembers the exact day she fell in love.

 _Not weird,_ something whispers, _that’s just how it is, with soulmates._

Adora wills the thought away, like she always does.

* * *

_Adora was seventeen, and finally seeing Catra again._

_When they were fourteen, Adora got adopted by a wonderful woman named Angela. She had a daughter named Glimmer, who was Adora’s age. They immediately clicked, and Adora was thrilled at the prospect of leaving Miss Weaver’s clutches._

_She was less thrilled about leaving Catra._

_Adora knew Catra was angry with her. When she broke the news, Catra didn’t speak to her for a week. The only reason she began to again was because of the cheap smartphone that Adora had pressed into her hands._

_“So we can stay in touch,” Adora whispered, tears in her eyes, “I don’t want to lose my best friend. Please take it.”_

_Catra stared at the phone in wonder, and promptly launched herself at Adora. Adora caught her, just like she always had, and they held each other tightly._

_“I’m sorry,” Catra whispered, voice thick and watery._

_“I’m sorry too. But this isn’t the end. We’re best friends, we’ll be together again,” Adora murmured, clutching Catra as close as she dared._

_“You promise?”_

_“I promise.”_

_At age seventeen, they weren’t together again for good. But they had one day together, and that was enough._

_Catra kept her word, and stayed in touch with Adora. Both of them were always glued to their phones, leading to halfhearted complaints from Angela. But Adora didn’t care. Catra was her favorite person, her source of comfort, her happy place. Catra never judged her. Sure, she’d tease the hell out of her, but that was just who Catra was._

_Even Bow and Glimmer, who had only met Catra through video calls, saw that they had something special._

_“Sparkles texted me and told me to tell you to stop studying and stressing because, and I quote, ‘I’m trying to make out with Bow and we can hear her—”_

_“CATRA! I DIDN’T SAY THAT!”_

_“YOU WANT TO THOUGH!”_

_“STOP!”_

_Which brought Adora to November 10th._

_Catra was in New York City for a week, for a reason Adora couldn’t really remember. Catra had said it was boring anyways. And Adora, who only lived two hours from New York City, was given permission to go for the day and see her._

_Catra, who she hadn’t seen in person in three years._

_Adora was shaking with excitement and nerves on the train._

_Stepping off of the train, Adora was taken aback by the sheer amount of_ people _there were. Sure, she’d been to cities before, but nothing like this. This city felt alive._

_She loved it._

_Finding the hotel was difficult due to her terrible sense of direction, but Adora eventually saw the building proudly standing on the corner of a street. It took all of her willpower not to start sprinting. She was so close._

_Adora burst into the hotel, checking her phone frantically._

**_kittycatra:_ ** _take the elevator up to the first floor  
_ **_kittycatra:_ ** _i’m waiting_

_Beaming, Adora rushed to the elevator. The ride up felt like years, and when the doors opened, Adora spotted her._

_Catra’s hair was as wild as she remembered, and her eyes were looking at her phone impatiently. She was tapping her foot, body tense. Adora felt her breath catch._

_“CATRA!” She called, and Catra’s head snapped up. Adora was already sprinting in her direction, smiling widely. After the shock wore off, Catra took off towards Adora, an identical smile on her face._

_They collided with each other, almost falling over from the force of it. Adora was laughing, the sound slightly manic, and Catra’s hands wouldn’t stop touching different places on Adora; roving over her shoulders, clutching her back, stroking her hair softly. Adora simply crushed her in a hug, lifting Catra off of her feet and spinning her around. They both laughed breathlessly, and after a minute, Adora set her down._

_“Hey Adora,” Catra whispered._

_“Hi,” Adora replied, touching her forehead to Catra’s. She was resolutely ignoring the tears that were starting to trail down her cheeks._

_“Are you seriously crying on me?” Catra teased, but she wiped away the tears gently._

_“Shut up! You’re about to cry too!” Adora laughed, poking Catra in her cheek. It was true; Catra’s eyes were glazed over and her lip was wobbling a bit._

_“Am not!”_

_“Are too!”_

_Silence. Then, they started laughing all over again._

_“I missed you so much,” Adora sniffled, and Catra smiled softly._

_“I missed you too, loser.”_

_The day went by, quickly and slowly all at once. They ran wild in New York City, looking into stores curiously and blanching at the prices, flitting from stand to stand to get lunch, and watching the city unfurl before them._

_While they were sitting and eating their lunch, Catra threw a box at Adora. She caught it, just barely, making Catra snicker._

_“What’s this?” Adora asked, and Catra flushed._

_“Open it and you’ll find out.”_

_Adora slowly opened the box, and her eyes widened when she saw what it was. It was a ring. A ring that matched the one that Catra always wore._

_“Catra—”_

_“Shut up and take it blondie,” Catra replied gruffly, and Adora simply smiled and put it on._

_“Where’d you get these?” Adora asked curiously, and Catra seemed to flush even more._

_“They belonged to my parents.”_

_The silence that followed was awkward, but warm._

_Eventually, they made it back to the hotel, running up to Catra’s room and giggling like maniacs the entire way._

_“I’m so_ tired,” _Catra complained, flopping down on the bed. Adora groaned in agreement, “oh, wanna take a nap?”_

_At Catra’s suggestion, Adora’s heart picked up._

That’s probably a bad idea, _she thought._

_“Sure,” she said instead, because she was weak like that._

_As Catra drifted off in Adora’s arms, Adora realized this was indeed a terrible idea._

I want to go to bed like this every night, _she thought._

_And then her eyes widened in terror._

_Nope, I’m_ not _touching on that right now. I’ll deal with that later, thank you very much._

* * *

“Later” was supposed to be a few days. So naturally, Adora waited two years.

* * *

Now, at the age of nineteen, Adora was proud to say she’d dealt with it. She’d confessed to Catra, accepted the rejection she knew was coming, and was now trying to get over it.

_Yeah, good luck with that._

They were both going to Brightmoon University, and while they didn’t share a dorm, they were close enough to be reunited permanently. Most days were spent with Catra lounging in Adora’s dorm, because apparently her roommate, Scorpia, was a lot to deal with.

The front door slammed open, causing Adora, who was writing up her history essay, to jump.

“Honey, I’m home!” Catra called, snickering.

_If only._

Adora set her laptop aside, smiling widely. Wandering into the living room, she spied Catra digging through the fridge. With a huff of laughter, Adora crept over and wrapped her arms around Catra’s waist.

“Welcome home, sweetheart,” Adora snarked, but it came out too soft. Too adoring.

The back of Catra’s neck was pink. Adora chalked it up to wishful thinking.

* * *

“So…” Adora sighed, causing Catra to look away from their movie warily, “has anything interesting happened lately? Like…any romantic developments?”

Catra stilled. Adora wailed in anguish internally.

“…Yeah? I guess?”

Catra wouldn’t look at her. Adora’s heart dropped.

“Who?”

“Uh. Scorpia? She’s…really nice and pretty.”

Adora felt like crying. She stood up abruptly, causing Catra to blink in surprise.

“Bathroom,” Adora managed to choke out, and all but sprinted away.

_Fuck fuck fuck, you knew this was going to happen, you KNEW it would. You gotta grin and bear it and be HAPPY for her, Adora. You have to._

She knew that. It didn’t make her stop crying though.

After an unacceptable amount of time to be in the bathroom, Adora emerged. Catra looked at her, eyes full of concern. It made Adora want to cry all over again.

“You okay?” She asked softly, and something in Adora snapped.

“You don't owe me anything, and I'm not telling you to change your behavior or something like that,” Adora started, “but I think crush talk will need to be at a minimum. I feel like a shitty best friend, but I cant keep doing this.”

Catra’s brow furrowed in confusion, but Adora pressed on.

“It's putting me in a really bad place mentally, because I'm just torn between wanting you to be happy and feeling like the worst person ever for being a selfish asshole. If I could turn off my emotions, I would. But I can’t.”

Adora shifted from foot to foot awkwardly, and Catra inhaled shakily and stood up as well. Adora tried to keep herself from trembling.

“I was going to say something, but I think it would make both of us feel like shit, so maybe I'll tell Bow or try to wipe it from my head,” Catra said slowly, and Adora tried to ignore the stab of pain that came with Catra saying she was going to tell Bow something instead of her, “the point is…I had a point. I can shut up about romance. It’s not my only purpose in life.”

Adora grasped her hair tightly, trying her best not to curl into herself or scream.

“I'm not telling you to shut up about it! I like when you tell me about things that are important to you! I’m saying just with this thing, we can still talk about it, but a little less!” Adora exclaimed, looking up to see Catra eyeing her, unreadable.

“Christ, this isn’t coming out right and you’re mad now,” Adora groaned, and Catra clenched her fists.

“I’m not mad! I would _tell_ you if I was mad!”

Adora sighed wearily, the fight draining out of her body.

“I'm getting frustrated and I can't figure out what I'm trying to say, give me a sec,” taking a few deep breaths, Adora finally continued, “I’m just trying to tell you what's going on in my brain, because when I let things simmer, I just get angry. I’m not telling you to change. I…I don’t think there’s anything either of us can do.” 

Catra’s face was pale as she looked Adora up and down. After a staredown that felt like it lasted years, Catra grabbed her phone and started towards the door.

“Catra—” Adora whispered, terror gripping her heart.

“I’ll be right back. I promise.”

Catra’s face was soft as she touched Adora’s cheek, her smile a little sad.

And then she was gone.

* * *

Fifteen minutes and a good cry on Adora’s part later, the front door slammed shut. Adora wiped her face hastily as Catra ran into Adora’s bedroom.

“Catra?”

“So I talked to Bow,” she said breathlessly, “he helped because he's great and i think he's dealt with our communal bullshit way more than he has had to, and we should get him like, a gift basket.”

“Wha—”

“Let me talk. Please. I won’t get it out otherwise,” Catra said quickly, sitting down next to Adora on the bed. Adora nodded slowly, and some of the tension bled out of Catra’s shoulders.

“Anyway. Jesus Christ, uh. Okay. The day I got in a fender bender, we were going to hang out together” Adora remembered that. It was August 27th, and she had seen a stupid tiktok that said something was going to happen on that date. She wanted to see if it would’ve gotten Catra to love her back, as stupid as that was, “You know that and I know that and I'm trying to cut to the chase. I wanted to kiss you,” Adora’s breath caught, and Catra shushed her, “I've been wanting to kiss you nonplatonically and I feel like shit about it because you're trying to get over me, and this throws an entire wrench into everything. I think I realized it about a week after you confessed. That's it, that's my situation, if we can talk about it it'll probably make things better. I don't know what in the goddamn i am doing and usually my fuckin,” Catra cut off with an annoyed huff, “My fuckin confessions are easier than this. This sucks and everything is out of place and—anyway if you hate me that's cool but we already know neither of us are very good at hating each other. Okay that's it, I have to stop talking now or I'm gonna ruin things, woo.”

Adora couldn’t help the hope that started to bubble up in her chest.

“I could never hate you,” she whispered, and Catra took a shaky breath, “I need a second, let me just. Gather my thoughts.”

Catra nodded wordlessly, and Adora hated the expression on her face. Like Adora was going to reject her. Like she ever could.

“Have you considered that the only reason I wanted to get over you was because I thought you didn’t love me back?” Adora asked, and Catra blinked rapidly, “I hope I’m reading this right, but…I love you, and I want to be with you. Like. Romantically and stuff. But we don’t need to rush into this or anything!” 

Catra sniffled, and Adora’s eyes widened.

“I love you too. I’m terrified,” Catra whispered, and Adora couldn’t help the laugh that burst out of her.

“I am too, dummy. But like I said, we don't need to jump into anything yet.”

“I was going to kiss you and—and that is the scariest sentence I have ever had to say, holy shit.” Adora could barely hear her over the pounding of her heartbeat. Her shock must’ve shown on her face, because Catra laughed softly and ran her thumbs over Adora’s cheeks.

“I feel like a dumbass. How I didn’t know you were still in love with me is beyond me, especially since you look at me like that all the damn time.”

“If it makes you feel better, I also feel like a dumbass,” Adora replied, stunned. Catra laughed, effectively rebooting Adora’s brain.

“If you want, we can agree that we intended this to happen the entire time and pretend like we're not idiots,” Catra snickered, making Adora snort unattractively. But hey, Catra’s face brightened at the sound, so maybe it was okay.

“Sounds good. Does this mean we're dating? Or…”

Catra turned an impressive shade of red, hiding her face in her hands.

“I’m gonna die.”

“No!” Adora laughed, “we just started dating, you can’t die on me now!”

Catra made a sound like a dying animal, and Adora wrapped her arms around her girlfriend—girlfriend!—tightly.

“God, I love you,” Adora whispered, and Catra lifted her head to look Adora in the eye.

“Say it again. The thing before ‘I love you,’” she demanded, and Adora felt the tears finally start falling down her cheeks.

“We’re dating.”

Catra hiccuped on a sob, cradled Adora’s face in her hands, and pulled her into a kiss. Adora melted against her, and they eventually had to stop since they were laughing so hard.

Adora had never felt more content.

* * *

“FINALLY!”

Adora and Catra jumped apart as Bow strode towards them furiously.

“I told you, Adora! I TOLD you, but did you listen? Nooooo, you just angsted in my room for MONTHS! God, that was TORTURE. I deserve financial compensation for that! I call dibs on best man at your wedding, JUST so I can make fun of you. There’s gonna be a powerpoint full of screenshots of your pining, I’m going to annotate it in comic sans, and it’s going to end with “In Conclusion: YOU’RE WELCOME.” or something! GOD!” Bow ranted while Catra smiled wickedly.

“Show me the pining. _Now.”_  
  
_“With pleasure."_

“NO!”

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed our dumbassery!
> 
> twitter: IWASIMP


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